More on the Wayne Joseph story

I previously posted here about a self-designated black man who discovered he did not have African DNA. Nightline did a news story about the incident here (text/video).

Interesting quote from Tony Frudakis, of DNAPrint Genomics (misspelled as Frudacas):

"Tony Frudacas, the other test co-creator and the director of DNA Print Genomics, said the company gets a lot of hate-mail these days from white supremacists who've heard about the test and don't like it.

"They might be afraid of what they might find in their own genomes," Frudacas said. "Five percent of European Americans exhibit some detectable level of African ancestry."

That means about one in 20 so-called white Americans have African genes."

Peter Brown's Australian and Asian Palaeoanthropology

A very helpful resource, including lots of data and pictures.

Link

The Proto-Uralic racial type

Some more information from the very interesting article previously referenced. The author studied 55 cranial samples of Uralic and other Eurasian populations based on a combination of metric and nonmetric traits.

"In biological anthropology, two principal hypotheses have been formulated. According to the first one [...] the biological features of the Uralians are basically a result of prolonged and extensive hybridization between various European and Siberian populations. If so, present linguistic affinities are solely due to the fact that Uralic languages, having spread from some center, were adopted by a number of unrelated peoples, much like the situation with Turkish languages. According to another theory [...] most modern Uralic groups have descended from a single population whose features survive in many of them despite hybridization with European and Siberian populations."

The authors subjected the metric variables to principal components analysis (PCA) and the nonmetric ones to canonical variate analysis (CVA):

Both the first vectors, PC1 and CV1, reveal a west-to-east gradient (traditionally referred to as "Caucasoid-to-Mongoloid") .

...

Although Uralians occupy very different positions on the west-to-east vector, Moksha Mordvinians, Suomi Finns, and Estonians being among the most "western" groups, and Nenets showing a strong eastern tendency, most of them were intermediate. This is a well-known fact which is compatible with either of the two competing hypotheses mentioned above. No doubt, hybridization was a very important factor in the population history of Uralic peoples. The question is, was it the only factor?

To answer this question, we must examine the second vectors, CV2 and PC2, which are orthogonal to the first ones. Here, the Uralians are highly specific rather than intermediate [...] Both vectors set most Uralic groups apart from others. As seen from tables 2 and 3, the "Uralic" trait combination includes an extremely high frequency of infraorbital pattern type II, and low frequency of sphenomaxillary suture (traits most highly correlated with PC2), a long and narrow brain case, low face and very small nasal projection angle (traits with the highest loadings on CV2). Notably in certain Ob Ugrian series, especially in the Khanty from the Lower Irtysh [...] as well as in the Salym and Balyk Khanty, the nasal bones are even flatter than in some Tungus groups, which are among the most flat-faced and flat-nosed in the world. [...]

This combination, which may be described as "Uralic", is quite unusual on a world scale. Utmost lack of proportionality in the expression of "eastern" and "western" traits speak against the purely hybrid nature of the Uralic groups.

...

Our results demonstrate that while hybridization was indeed the major factor in Uralic evolution, most Uralic-speaking groups possess a common and highly specific biological trait combination which differentiates them from any other northern Eurasian groups (or any other groups studied by us) and suggest that they have indeed descended from a single proto-Uralic population.

UPDATE

It is amazing how the data of physical anthropology harmonize with that drawn from human population genetics. According to the article:

The groups with the most pronounced "Uralic" trait combination are Ob Ugrians. Interestingly, this tendency is strongest in Khants, not in Mansi as previously believed.

And according to Lahermo (1999):

Aside from the Hungarians, the C allele of the Tat polymorphism was common in all the Finno-Ugric speaking populations (from 8.2% to 63.2%), with highest incidence in the Ob-Ugrian Khanty.

Lahermo et al., Eur J Hum Genet. 1999 May-Jun;7(4):447-58.

French mtDNA

European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication 24 December 2003; doi:10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201145

mtDNA polymorphisms in five French groups: importance of regional sampling

Vincent Dubut et al.

Abstract

According to classical markers, France has been reported to be regionally heterogeneous. Here, we propose to test the homogeneity of the French mitochondrial gene pool by analysing D-Loop and coding regions polymorphisms in 210 individuals stemming from five regions. The data set obtained was also used to test the ability of mitochondrial DNA to detect well historically established admixtures (admixtures between British/Irish people and native Breton people in our case). For these purposes, the sampling procedure was subject to special care, concerning the individuals' geographical origin and maternal pedigree. The mtDNA analysis revealed some regional specificities in haplogroup distribution, which is discussed in terms of successive settlements of France. Statistical analyses were conducted to investigate mtDNA diversity and structure within and between British, Irish and French groups. They tended to show affinities between Morbihan region and Britain plus Ireland. Furthermore, genetic evidences were in line with the fact that Morbihan region results from an admixture event, agreeing with historical evidences of successive migrations from Britain and Ireland into Brittany. These results also tended to outline the fact that two geographically very adjacent samples (Morbihan and Finistère), sharing a cultural and linguistic area, can present a distinct genetic pattern. Although mtDNA analyses were able to identify a historically reported admixture event, we point out here the high influence of the sampling procedure and representativeness over the migrations hypothesis. We also underline the importance of regional sampling for studies on the spread and/or origin of specific European haplogroups (here U5a1a and U8).

Link

Racial Classification: How Easy?

I've been looking at Howells' Craniometric data for a while now. A question that always interested me is the following: "how easy is it to get a fairly good classification of a skull into a major continental race?" So, I tried a very simple experiment: I picked the medieval Oslo (Caucasoid) and Shang Dynasty from Anyang (Mongoloid) samples and calculated simple differences of the means between the two samples for each of the 45 cranial variables. I then expressed these in standard deviations for each variable and picked the highest difference. This happened to be variable 31, the naso-dacryal subtense (NDS), (*) which was significantly higher in the Oslo group than in the Anyang one, due to the difference between the strongly profiled Europoid vs. the flat Mongoloid face.

Then, I built a simple classifier which was simply the following:

10.07 is the arithmetic mean of 12.29 for the Oslo group and 7.85 for the Anyang group. (+) Then, I run all Oslo and all Anyang skulls through the classifier. The result: 91% of the Oslo skulls and 95% of the Anyang skulls were correctly classified.

To test whether this simple classifier generalizes over other Caucasoid/Mongoloid skulls, I tested it over the Zalavar (Hungary), and Berg (Austria) samples where the accuracy was 83% and 77% respectively. I also tested it over the Hokkaido, Hainan and Buriat Mongoloid samples. Accuracy was 89%, 100%, 96%.

In other words, the most braindead classifier conceivable is able to distinguish between Caucasoid and Mongoloid skulls with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

(*) Roughly speaking, the distance between where your glasses rest on your nose and where tears flow from, but on the skull.
(+) I used male skulls only.

Y Chromosomes of Armenians

Hum Genet. 2001 Dec;109(6):659-74. Epub 2001 Oct 30.

Armenian Y chromosome haplotypes reveal strong regional structure within a single ethno-national group

Michael E. Weale et al.

Abstract. Armenia has been little-studied genetically, even though it is situated in an important area with respect to theories of ancient Middle Eastern population expansion and the spread of Indo-European languages. We screened 734 Armenian males for 11 biallelic and 6 microsatellite Y chromosome markers, segregated them according to paternal grandparental region of birth within or close to Armenia, and compared them with data from other population samples. We found significant regional stratification, on a level greater than that found in some comparisons between different ethno-national identities. A diasporan Armenian sub-sample (collected in London) was not sufficient to describe this stratified haplotype distribution adequately, warning against the use of such samples as surrogates for the non-diasporan population in future studies. The haplotype distribution and pattern of genetic distances suggest a high degree of genetic isolation in the mountainous southern and eastern regions, while in the northern, central and western regions there has been greater admixture with populations from neighbouring Middle Eastern countries. Georgia, to the north of Armenia, also appears genetically more distinct, suggesting that in the past Trans-Caucasia may have acted as a genetic barrier. A Bayesian full-likelihood analysis of the Armenian sample yields a mean estimate for the start of population growth of 4.8 thousand years ago (95% credible interval: 2.0-11.1), consistent with the onset of Neolithic farming. The more isolated southern and eastern regions have high frequencies of a microsatellite defined cluster within haplogroup 1 that is centred on a modal haplotype one step removed from the Atlantic Modal Haplotype, the centre of a cluster found at high frequencies in England, Friesland and Atlantic populations, and which may represent a remnant paternal signal of a Paleolithic migration event.

Link

Y-SNP Haplogroups in Americans

A presentation by P. M. Vallone and J. M. Butler of the NIST can be found here in pdf.

Humans' 10,000 year warming habit

Humans have been warming the Earth's climate for the last 10,000 years, US scientist William Ruddiman claims.

The University of Virginia professor says agriculture has put greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, pushing up temperatures by about one Celsius.

This, he claims, has broadly balanced the cooling that should have come from a natural reduction in the Sun's heat reaching Earth over the same period.

The professor has presented his ideas to the American Geophysical Union.

The AGU is holding its annual autumn meeting here in San Francisco.

Complete Story (BBC)

Cave Colours Reveal Mental Leap

Red-stained bones dug up in a cave in Israel are prompting researchers to speculate that symbolic thought emerged much earlier than they had believed.

Symbolic thought - the ability to let one thing represent another - was a giant leap in human evolution.

It was a mental ability that allowed sophisticated language and maths.

New excavations show that a red colour made from ochre was used in burials 100,000 years ago, much earlier than other examples of colour association.

Complete Story (BBC)

Personality and Right Wing Ideology

Personality and Individual Differences
Volume 36, Issue 2 , January 2004, Pages 405-417

The relationship between maladaptive personality and right wing ideology

A. Van Hiel et al.

Abstract

The present research investigates the relationship between right wing ideology and maladaptive personality as measured by the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology-Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ) in an adult sample (N=225). Analogous to previous studies, Openness to Experience was significantly related to right wing ideology. Conscientiousness was only modestly related to right wing ideology, but its maladaptive equivalent––Compulsiveness––was significantly related to right wing ideology. A significant relationship was also found for maladaptive Disagreeableness. The other personality traits were only modestly related to political ideology. The implications of the relationship between right-wing ideology and adaptive and maladaptive Openness and Conscientiousness are discussed.

Previous research on the relationship between various measures of psychological dysfunction and right-wing ideology often reported non-significant findings. The present study administered the DAPP-BQ––a comprehensive model of maladaptive personality––showing that pathological traits related to Neuroticism and Introversion were all unrelated to right wing ideology. However, the role of Compulsiveness and Disagreeableness in explaining right-wing ideology was substantiated.

...

Previous research on the relationship between various measures of psychological dysfunction and right-wing ideology often reported non-significant findings. The present study administered the DAPP-BQ––a comprehensive model of maladaptive personality––showing that pathological traits related to Neuroticism and Introversion were all unrelated to right wing ideology. However, the role of Compulsiveness and Disagreeableness in explaining right-wing ideology was substantiated.

The present study corroborates previous research showing a strong negative correlation between Openness to Experience and right wing ideology. However, pathological or maladaptive correlates of Openness were not identified. Hence, the search for maladaptive or pathological correlates of conservatism and Openness remains open.

Link

mtDNA of Russians and Belorussians

Human Biology 75.5 (2003) 647-660

Mitochondrial DNA Variations in Russian and Belorussian Populations

Olga Belyaeva et al.

Abstract

The sequence of the first hypervariable segment (HVS-I) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was determined in 251 individuals from three eastern Slavonic populations, two Russian and one Belorussian. Within HVS-I, 78 polymorphic positions were revealed. Within-population diversity of HVS-I varies slightly among three samples; its estimates do not differ strongly from those for European populations. Haplotype diversity for three populations calculated in this study is 0.949; mean pairwise differences estimate is 3.59. To assign mtDNA sequences to major phylogenetic clusters, haplogroup-specific restriction polymorphisms were selectively typed in most samples. The haplogroup distribution in the total Eastern Slavonic sample is similar to that reported for the European sample. However, the separate consideration of three Slavonic samples reveals the complicated structure of the mitochondrial gene pool in the Eastern European area. Data of this study support the proposed model of the origin of modern Eastern Slavs, which implies the admixture of ancient Slavonic tribes with pre-Slavonic populations of Eastern Europe. These data should contribute to general studies of mitochondrial DNA variations in Europe.

...

The presence of the U5b1 subcluster in the northern Russian population should also be noted. U5b1 sequences in Russians were also reported by Malyarchuk et al. (2002). This subcluster was described as specific for the Saami population (Lahermo et al. 1996). Its presence in the Russian (Oshevensk) sample seems to reflect an admixture of a Finno-Ugric component, but it is unclear how old this admixture could be. All individuals included in our sample were characterized as ethnically Russian, and inhabited the area where the sample was collected for at least three maternal generations. Currently, due to geographical and sociological peculiarities, the Russian population of the Oshevensk settlement can be considered an isolate. The southern part of the Arkhangelsk region, where the Oshevensk settlement is situated, does not have immediate contact with Saami populations. So, a recent admixture seems to be less probable than an earlier admixture during the peopling of northern areas by Slavonic groups.

...

In comparison to frequencies of cluster M in Belorussians and the northern Russian population, the frequency of cluster M in Russians (Bashkiria) is notably but not dramatically increased (five sequences). Although we collected samples from individuals who are ethnically Russian for at least three generations, we cannot exclude the possibility of some admixture with neighboring Asian populations characterized by high frequencies of the cluster M.

...

Conclusions. As follows from the above discussion, three eastern Slav samples considered in total demonstrate mtDNA variations that are very close to variations found in the European population as a whole. MtDNA haplotypes are similar to those found in Western and Central European populations. Nevertheless, the comparison of Slavonic samples of different ethnic and geographic origins reveals the complicated structure of the mitochondrial gene pool in this area. This structure could reflect traces of female admixture between Slavonic and pre-Slavonic groups—in particular, Finno-Ugric tribes—during a colonization of northern Eastern Europe by Slavs. In this sense our data are in agreement with those from previous studies of Slavonic mtDNA (Malyarchuk and Derenko 2001) and a hybridization theory of the origin of Eastern Slavs (Alekseeva 1973), which imply their central European origin and subsequent admixture and assimilation of pre-Slavonic populations of Eastern Europe. This study also revealed no or low Mongoloid admixture in the mitochondrial gene pool of Eastern Slavs. However, the analysis of maternally inherited mtDNA could not effectively reveal the influence of Mongoloid migrations, since they included mostly male individuals. Haplogroup distribution in Belorussians and northern Russians has more similarity to that in northern European populations than in eastern Russian populations. The Russian (Bashkiria) population differs from the two other samples in the representation of several clusters, namely, HV, V, K, T. Besides the local admixture and assimilation of pre-Slavonic groups, this difference could support an existing opinion that Russian migrants of different geographic origin were involved in the processes of colonizing the northern and eastern parts of the Russian Plain. More detailed studies of Eastern European mtDNA variations, complemented by analysis of Y-chromosome loci, will allow revelation of some tendencies, which could reflect the main aspects of European gene pool formation.

Link

Y Chromosomes of Mbenzele Pygmies

American Journal of Human Biology
Volume 16, Issue 1 , Pages 57 - 67

Binary and microsatellite polymorphisms of the Y-chromosome in the Mbenzele pygmies from the Central African Republic

Valentina Coia et al.

Abstract

This study analyzes the variation of six binary polymorphisms and six microsatellites in the Mbenzele Pygmies from the Central African Republic. Five different haplogroups (B2b, E(xE3a), E3a, P and BR(xB2b,DE,P)) were observed, with frequencies ranging from 0.022 (haplogroup P) to 0.609 (haplogroup E3a). A comparison of haplogroup frequencies indicates a close genetic affinity between the Mbenzele and the Biaka Pygmies, a finding consistent with the common origin and the geographical proximity of the two populations. The haplogroups P, BR(xB2b,DE,P) and E(xE3a), which are rare in sub-Saharan Africa but common in western Eurasia, were observed with frequencies ranging from 0.022 (haplogroup P) to 0.087 (haplogroup E(xE3a)). Thirty different microsatellite haplotypes were detected, with frequencies ranging from 0.022 to 0.152. The Mbenzele share the highest percent of microsatellite haplotypes with the Biaka Pygmies. Five out seven haplotypes which are shared by the Mbenzele and Biaka Pygmies belong to haplogroup E3a, which suggests that they are of Bantu origin. The plot based on Fst genetic distances calculated using microsatellite data provides a picture of population relationships which is in part congruent and in part complementary to that obtained using haplogroup frequencies. Finally, the Mbenzele and Biaka Pygmies were found to be markedly more genetically similar using Y-chromosomal than autosomal microsatellites. We suggest that this could be due to the higher phylogenetic stability of Y-chromosome and to the effect of the male-biased gene flow during the Bantu expansion.

Link

Month of Birth Effect on Height and Weight

American Journal of Human Biology
Volume 16, Issue 1 , Pages 31 - 42

Month-of-birth effect on height and weight in Polish rural children

Krzysztof Kociski et al.

Abstract

This study investigated a hypothesis of dependence of child height and weight on the month of their birth. The sample comprised 1,241 subjects, 568 boys and 673 girls, age 6-20 years, from villages in Olsztyn Province, Northeast Poland. Individuals' height and weight data were standardized by sex and age to allow grouping of individuals born in the same month irrespective of their sex and age at examination. Subjects born in October to March proved to be significantly taller and heavier than those born in April to September. The magnitude of differences between the semiannual groupings equaled 13.1% of a standard deviation (SD) in height (P = 0.03) and 14.2% of SD in weight (P = 0.02). The month-of-birth effect was much stronger for children characterized by high socioeconomic status, where these differences amounted to 39.1% of SD in height (P = 0.02) and 49.4% of SD in weight (P = 0.01). There were no regular changes of the effect with age and no differences between the sexes were found. Fitted cosine functions identified the highest values of examined traits for individuals born in December with the lowest values being found in those born in June. Possible explanations of the month-of-birth effect are considered in terms of age categorizing, seasonal variety of growth rates, as well as birth-related or conception-related global, hemispheric, and local factors. This study rejects the first two possibilities and suggests this effect requires further research to be conducted in various geographical locations, climates, and cultures, on humans as well as on other species.

Link

Postmortem set for Florence's Medici dynasty

ROME — The remains of 50 members of Florence's Medici dynasty — some of whom are believed to have been poisoned — are to be exhumed for forensic tests to determine how they lived and died.
The first members of the family who ruled Florence from the 15th century to 1737 will be removed from the Medici Chapels in Michelangelo's Church of San Lorenzo in June.
Experts say DNA testing could yield some "sensational surprises" and also provide a true family tree, showing who was related — and who not — and who their "natural" fathers were.
The bodies, including eight grand dukes, will be submitted individually to medical and scientific tests for biological and genetic data under a program run by the universities of Florence and Pisa and Florence's museum authorities.
The declared purpose is to tap into the secrets and reconstruct the lifestyle of the colorful family of uncertain origin who went on to decide the destiny of Florence.
Through the enormous wealth they reaped from commerce and banking, the Medicis rose to power and influence first in the city, then the whole of Italy and finally Europe, producing three popes and two queens of France. They also became patrons of the arts, with a huge influence on Renaissance Florence.
Specialists expect to discover what they ate, their health problems and the causes of their deaths.
Licia Bertani, in charge of the Medici Chapels in Florence, said: "It is an operation that will be carried out far away from indiscreet eyes, in the intimacy of the Laurentian Crypt.
"We will need at a least a couple of years to complete the project, which calls for the exhumation of no fewer than 50 people, each kept in separate coffins."
A laboratory will be set up in the crypt, where the first tests will be carried out. Samples taken from the remains will then be transferred to the University of Pisa for more in-depth tests.
"By exhuming these illustrious corpses we will discover what illnesses they had, how they lived and how they died," Mrs. Bertani said. "For example, there is supposed to have been gout in the family. But it might have been deforming arthritis instead."
Mrs. Bertani said the Medicis came to Florence from the Mugello area in northern Tuscany. "But their more distant origins may have been in the East. Some believe they may have been Jewish.
"We hope to find some in good condition. Cosimo the Elder's body, which is buried elsewhere, was exhumed not long ago, and it was still wearing a blue garment that was in quite good condition."
One likely outcome of the exhumations is that the faces of some of the family will be reconstructed three dimensionally. "The Medicis were a rather ugly lot, especially after they became inter-related with the Hapsburgs," Mrs. Bertani said. "The one exception was Lorenzo's brother Giovanni, who was supposed to have been a handsome man."
The dynasty was dominated by the figures of Cosimo the Elder, who was a patron to Brunelleschi, Donatello and Ghiberti, and his grandson Lorenzo the Magnificent, who supported Michelangelo and Botticelli.
Lorenzo's son Giuliano, who became Pope Leo X, was patron to Raphael. Under his papacy, the Protestant Reformation began.
Alessandro de' Medici, who was made head of the Republic of Florence with the help of Pope Clement VII (also a Medici and then head of the family), is thought to have been Lorenzo's illegitimate son.
Some believe Alessandro had his cousin Ippolito poisoned shortly before Alessandro himself was assassinated by another relative, Lorenzino de' Medici.
The project has been given the blessing of the latter-day family. Ottaviano de' Medici is understood to have offered himself for DNA testing "in order to demonstrate that he descends from Lorenzo the Magnificent."

Link

Quantitative Analysis of Coon's Taxonomy

Carleton S. Coon's Caucasoid subracial taxonomy is an example of a typological system. Of course we can't be sure how accurate his system is unless we see data for the populations it describes. But we can also look at the type examples chosen by Coon and ask whether or not they segregate into the groups defined by Coon, thus checking the internal consistency of his taxonomy.(*)

In order to answer this question I used 152 of Coon's individuals from 40 of his plates. I averaged the metrical data on each of these plates and thus created "average types". Subsequently the data was standardized by subtracting the mean and dividing with the standard deviation and C-scores were extracted by subtracting the mean of each row (individual) from the measurements. Using this, I constructed a dendrogram based on Euclidean distance:

Before we continue, let's summarize Coon's system. Coon thinks the main division in Caucasoids is between narrow-faced Mediterraneans and broad-faced Upper Paleolithics. The former are rather gracile, while the latter are robust. Mediterraneans are divided into various groups based on their size and pigmentation and other traits, but are presumed to form a single racial family. Upper Paleolithics are also divided into subgroups, most notably gracilized and brachycephalized Alpines and massive dolichocephalic Bruenns and brachycephalic Borrebies. Additionally there are races formed by the admixture of Mediterraneans with Alpines or Borrebies: the Dinarics and Armenoids; these have long faces beaky noses and short heads (think Count Dracula).

I've annotated the dendrogram above with numbers to make the discussion easier. The examples segregate into two groups. 1 is mainly broad-faced and 2 is mainly narrow-faced. So, Coon's taxonomy is self-consistant so far. There are of course some exceptions. Group 1 separates into 3, which includes mostly UP types and 4 which includes mostly Alpines and Alpine-derivatives. Again, Coon's system seems to be fairly consistent in dividing the broad-faced people into unreduced and reduced varieties.

The narrow-faced cluster 1 is divided into brachycephalics 5 which correspond to Dinarics and dolichocephalics 6 which correspond to Nordics and Mediterraneans. Coon actually took on the view after publishing the Races of Europe that "Dinarics", which he formerly thought were the result of admixture with Alpines, were actually the result of cradling practices. No matter what the origin of the Dinarics, they seem to be in most respects more similar to the Mediterraneans.

Let's go into one level deeper. Cluster 4, which we labeled "Alpine" is divided into 7 and 8. 7 includes "Danubians", aberrant Alpine forms, Pontic Mediterraneans, "altered" Nordics and others. They probably correspond to "Mixed Alpine" forms that combine Mediterranean-Alpine forms. Cluster 8 includes "Borreby" forms, Neo-Danubians, East Baltics and Alpines. We are tempted to think that the distinction between "Borrebies" and Alpines is from a metric perspective artificial.

The subcluster of 6, the "Nordic-Mediterraneans" are 9 which comprises of most Europeans, and 10 which comprises of most Non-Europeans and (surprisingly) Scandinavian long-headed Bruenns. Bruenns are distinguished mainly by their robustness and big size. But are they a valid group? This analysis seems to indicate that they are not, in agreement perhaps with the opinion of Earnest Hooton who considered the UP dolichocephals as early Mediterraneans. This result is somewhat surprising since the UP dolichocephals, who are thought to be the most ancient stratum of the European population cluster with the Asiatic Mediterraneans. Metric variation of course can't tell the whole story, but at most we can say that the Bruenns are not distinctive enough metrically or distinguished by a "wide racial gap" from Mediterraneans as Coon thought.

In summary: Coon's typological system was analyzed from a metric perspective. The main distinction is not between Europeans and non-Europeans, or Upper Paleolithics and Mediterraneans, it is rather between broad-faced and narrow-faced forms. The chiefly Mediterranean character of the Dinarics is confirmed, as is the metric unity of Mediterraneans and Nordics. The distinction between reduced and unreduced varieties gave contradictory results and does not in my opinion merit the attention that Coon gave it in his system.

(*) With the caveat that Coon's types are defined on the basis of metrical, morphological and pigmentation data. Here I only deal with the metrical aspect.

Dendrogram of Anthropometric Variation in Caucasoids

Continuing the previous post.

Anthropometric Variation in Europeans

I'm learning how to play with R. The learning curve is a bit steep, but I'm getting there.

To begin with, I did a small dendrogram of anthropometric variation in Europe based on Coon' The Races of Europe. The results make intuitive sense to me, except for Denmark which doesn't belong in the Scandinavian cluster: but Denmark had the greatest number of missing variables, so this probably explains it. Anyway, here it goes:

Canary islands-north African population affinities

This seems to harmonize with the ancient DNA evidence.

Canary islands-north African population affinities: measures of divergence based on dental morphology

HOMO, December 2001, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 173-188(16)

Guatelli-Steinberg D. et al.

Abstract

This investigation addresses two related questions about the origins and biological affinities of the Canary Islands' aboriginal inhabitants. First: With which North African populations do the pre-conquest inhabitants of the Canary Islands have their greatest affinities? Second: Does inter-island biological variability among the Canary Islanders, as has been suggested by other researchers (Hooton 1925, Schwidetzky 1963), imply that potentially different founding populations remained distinct during the pre-conquest period? This study employs dental morphology data derived from pre-conquest skeletons to answer these questions. Non-metric dental traits appear to be controlled by polygenic systems with a low to moderate environmental contribution to the resulting phenotype (Berry 1978, Harris & Bailit 1980, Nichol 1990) and can thus be assumed to reflect genetic relationships. The dental morphology of a sample of Canary Islanders (n = 397) is compared to that of Northwest African samples of Algerian Shawia Berbers (n = 26), Kabyle Berbers (n = 32), Bedouin Arabs (n = 49) and Punic Carthaginians (n = 28) as well as to six samples from Northeast Africa (n = 307) included for the purpose of understanding Canary Islanders' affinities within a wider context. The analysis employs 28 dental traits, quantifying differences in their expression among the various samples through a summary statistic, CAB Smith's Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD). The MMD analysis indicates that the Canary Island sample is most similar to the four samples from Northwest Africa: the Shawia Berbers, Kabyle Berbers, Bedouin Arabs and Carthaginians, less similar to the three Egyptian samples and least like the three Nubian samples. An intra-island comparison among samples from La Gomera, Gran Canaria and Tenerife reveals low, insignificant MMD values in all cases, implying that inter-island dental morphology differences are not so great as to require hypotheses of separate founding populations.

Differentials of Yayoi immigration to Japanas derived from dental metrics

HOMO, December 2001, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 135-156(22)

Matsumura H.

Abstract

A major influx of new people, today termed Yayoi, migrated from the East Asian continent into the Japanese archipelago during the Aeneolithic and Protohistoric periods and interbred with the preexisting Jomon people. This study classifies ancient and more modern Japanese into natives or immigrants using discriminant analysis based on dental measurements in order to reconstruct the initial impact of the immigrants and the temporal and geographical differentials of mixture with the preexisting people. The results suggest that the earliest immigrants diffused into central Japan, including the Kanto region. The proportion of immigrant origin in the protohistoric Kofun was less in eastern Japan (72%) as compared to western Japan (81%–90%). The proportion of the immigrants in the Kanto District decreased during the medieval period (63%) and increased again in the early modern Edo and later modern times (75%), which might indicate that the gene flow still was occurring from west to east even in these times. Assuming the estimated proportions of either group reflect the intermixture ratio, the recent Japanese people may be regarded as hybrid of the native and immigrant groups with the following approximate ratios: 1:3 for the Kanto Japanese, 2:3 for the Ryukyu Islanders and 7:3 for the Hokkaido Ainu. These estimations support the «dual structure model» formed by Hanihara (1991) for explaining the population history of Japan.

Craniometric Analysis of Uralic populations

HOMO, April 2002, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 240-253(14)

Moiseyev V.

Abstract:

Data on 55 modern cranial samples representing Uralic and other Eurasian populations were subjected to canonical variate (CV) and principal component (PC) analysis for 6 nonmetric and 14 metric traits, respectively. While PC1 and CV1 reveal strong east-to-west gradients among the Uralians, PC2 and CV2 separate most of them from the remaining groups, suggesting that they have descended from an ancestral proto-Uralian population. The biologically «Uralic» features survive in modern Uralic groups despite the fact that the initial split was followed by a long period of hybridization with widely dissimilar people. Our results confirm that the ancestors of many Turkish-speaking groups as well as the Yukaghirs belonged to the proto-Uralic community.

Racial Analysis Calculator

A simple tool, now at version 1.05 is available here. At present it supports only adult Caucasoid males.

Hungarian Physical Anthropology

Anthropological conclusions of the study of Roman and
Migration periods

ABSTRACT This paper outlines the history and results of the anthropological analysis of the population of the Central Danubian Basin ranging from Roman Period to the 9th century in time. It is very important to emphasize that publications with anthropological description are of vital importance. However, for lack of space, this summary concentrated only on those works that set out to summarize and to compare, or to produce an analysis according to some innovative approach.

Link (pdf)

Origins of Sinodonty

Journal of Human Evolution
Volume 45, Issue 5 , November 2003, Pages 369-380

Dental morphology of the Dawenkou Neolithic population in North China: implications for the origin and distribution of Sinodonty

Yoshitaka Manabe et al.

Abstract

We compare the incidence of 25 nonmetric dental traits of the people of the Neolithic Dawenkou culture (6300–4500 BP) sites in Shandong Province, North China with those of other East Asian populations. The Dawenkou teeth had an overwhelmingly greater resemblance to the Sinodont pattern typical of Northeast Asia than to the Sundadont pattern typical of Southeast Asia. Multidimensional scaling using Smith's mean measure of divergence (MMD) statistic place the Dawenkou sample near the Amur and the North China–Mongolia populations in the area of the plot indicating typical Sinodonty. The existence of the Sinodont population in Neolithic North China suggests a possible continuity of Sinodonty from the Upper Cave population at Zhoukoudian (about 34,000–10,000 BP) to the modern North Chinese. The presence of Sinodonty in Shandong Province shows that the Japan Sea and East China Sea were strong barriers to gene flow for at least 3000 years, because at this time the Jomonese of Japan were fully Sundadont. In addition, we suggest that the descendants of the Dawenkou population cannot be excluded as one of the source populations that contributed to sinodontification in Japan.

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Increase in Obesity: A Genetic Cause?

Journal of Biosocial Science (2003), :1-13 Cambridge University Press

DOI 10.1017/S0021932003006357

POPULATION INCREASES IN OBESITY APPEAR TO BE PARTLY DUE TO GENETICS

LEE ELLIS et al.

Abstract

Studies have documented substantial increases in obesity throughout most of the industrialized world in recent decades. The majority of explanations for these increases have centred around environmental factors such as the increasing availability of high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods and sedentary lifestyles. This study sought to determine if genetic factors might be contributing to the increases in the proportions of North Americans who are obese and overweight. The body mass index (BMI) for a large sample of two generations of United States and Canadian subjects was correlated with family fertility indicators. Small but highly significant positive correlations were found between the BMIs of family members and their reproduction rates, especially in the case of women. For instance, mothers in the sample (most of whom were born in the 1940s and 50s) who were in the normal or below normal range had an average of 4·3 siblings and 3·2 children, compared with 4·8 siblings and 3·5 children for mothers who were overweight or obese. When combined with evidence from twin and adoption studies indicating that genes make substantial contributions to obesity, this study suggests that recent increases in obesity are partially the result of overweight and obese women having more children than is true for average and underweight women. It is speculated that improvements in medical treatments for conditions associated with obesity – particularly diabetes and heart disease – are making it possible for overweight women to live longer and to be more fertile than was true historically.

The Times mixes it up

The New York Times uses a bust of Epicurean philosopher Metrodorus mislabeling it as Aristotle. I guess, as long as they're ancient and in marble they're interchangeable. The demise of classical education indeed.

European classification based on lexicostatistical data

Cladistics
Volume 19, Issue 2 , April 2003, Pages 120-127

Cladistic analysis of languages: Indo-European classification based on lexicostatistical data

Katerzina Rexová et al.

Abstract

The phylogeny of the Indo-European (IE) language family is reconstructed by application of the cladistic methodology to the lexicostatistical dataset collected by Dyen (about 200 meanings, 84 speech varieties, the Hittite language used as a functional outgroup). Three different methods of character coding provide trees that show: (a) the presence of four groups, viz., Balto-Slavonic clade, Romano-Germano-Celtic clade, Armenian-Greek group, and Indo-Iranian group (the two last groups possibly paraphyletic); (b) the unstable position of the Albanian language; (c) the unstable pattern of the basalmost IE differentiation; but (d) the probable existence of the Balto-Slavonic–Indo-Iranian ("satem") and the Romano-Germano-Celtic (+Albanian?) superclades. The results are compared with the phenetic approach to lexicostatistical data, the results of which are significantly less informative concerning the basal pattern. The results suggest a predominantly branching pattern of the basic vocabulary phylogeny and little borrowing of individual words. Different scenarios of IE differentiation based on archaeological and genetic information are discussed.

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